The short version, and the longer one

I started in Instrumentation & Control Engineering, which taught me to look at a system and ask what is actually being measured. I finished that degree with distinction and went straight into an MBA in International Business at MIT World Peace University, because the questions I found interesting had stopped being technical ones.

Since then the work has been operational. At Godrej & Boyce I worked inside the process equipment business — procurement, strategic sourcing and supplier development for the steel and specialised internals that go into industrial process equipment. Two projects came out of it: an optimisation of the Procure-to-Pay cycle, and a global market study across oil & gas, power, energy and hydrogen that fed into international expansion strategy.

Before that I spent a season on a manufacturing floor at TopNotch Foods, running quality control and production planning for ice cream cone manufacturing. It is the least glamorous line on my résumé and probably the most useful — there is no substitute for standing next to a line that is running.

Outside employment, I have built two things that are still running. The WeDesi Festival started in Gujarat in November 2020, in the middle of restrictions on public gatherings, and reached five editions and 700+ attendees before I stepped back into a mentoring role. Cycle N’ Chai has been going since 2018 as a pan-India community for cyclists — rides, races and bikepacking events.

And I ride. Second place over 646 kilometres from Pune to Goa at the Deccan Cliffhanger, plus a stack of 300 to 1000 kilometre rides and triathlon. It is not a separate hobby from the professional work; it is where I learned that plans have to be built for the tired version of you.